Video Marketing: What Really Matters?!

Von: Mag. Dominik Mikulaschek

Pictures say more than a thousand words. With the help of videos, images can be staged even better. That’s exactly why video marketing is perfect for this: With videos, you can inform people even better about your product or service. It helps increase engagement on your digital and social channels, inform your audience, and reach them through a new medium.

Why good storytelling is so important

Video storytelling is a marketing tactic that uses the engaging video format to tell a story about a brand, company or product. Video storytelling provides an emotional connection for viewers. People are drawn into the action based on a combination of factors, from camera angles to the soundtrack to the characters and the emotion of the story itself. Video storytelling focuses more on the story than the product or service itself.

Tell emotions vividly and portray products more authentically. Only when a video inspires the viewer, teaches them something, or entertains them, does it also add value and help enhance the brand image. Again, content is king. Boring and flat advertising is not enough, no matter how well the video is produced. But if products or services are connected to a story, you’re on the right track and getting attention.

In the early stages of producing a story via video, it’s important to answer some questions that will guide the rest of the process:

Content: What story do you want to tell? What is the structure? (Influential stories usually consist of an introduction, conflict, and resolution).
Purpose: Why do you want to convey this story to the audience and what do you want them to do afterwards?
Characters: Who are the main characters in your video story? How do they relate to your audience?
Place: What is the main location for the video and how does that location shape the video narrative?
Target audience: Who will mainly see this video? Are they new customers, potential customers, employees, or some other group?
Marketing: How do you share the video story and where is it hosted (e.g. YouTube, website or elsewhere)?

Once you’ve figured out the answers to these questions, you’ll have a solid framework to work with. Think about how you can connect with your audience, what techniques will make the video most memorable for viewers, and how it might even go viral.

What speaks for video marketing

Explainer videos, tests and tutorials in particular can have a huge influence on a customer’s purchase decision. After all, they are much easier to consume than long texts. Video content is especially a useful tool when it comes to helping potential buyers learn about a product. Using video content helps improve users’ understanding of a product or service. Customers will only buy your product if they understand what it does and how it helps them. Not surprisingly, video content is such a good tool for this. Explainer videos are especially good for this.

With access to faster networks, businesses are increasingly using video to connect with their customers. The following are some other reasons to use video marketing:

Stay visible on social media longer
Get more attention and engagement from users.
Increase the understanding of your product
Trap even more
Offer a personal way to connect with your audience
Video marketing is a powerful sales tool
The ranking in search engines is higher: the chance of landing on page 1 in Google increases by a factor of 53.

The best distribution channels for videos

Videos can be used in many ways. So it’s easy to find a method that fits your company’s marketing goals:

Website: Embed videos on your website so that potential customers don’t have to read so much and can first get an overview with the help of a video.
Youtube: This platform is suitable for almost all video formats that users can watch for free. Whether insights into everyday work, explanatory videos or image films – Youtube is the perfect platform for this.
Facebook: Videos now also dominate on Facebook. Users watch 1 billion videos here every day.
Instagram: With a limit of 60 seconds, Instagram is only suitable for short clips. The topic of snackable content is also exciting here: Videos are adjusted in length and size here. The perfect length for a video is at least 6 to a maximum of 60 seconds. Ideally, these videos are also displayed in portrait format, since most users consume content on mobile devices.
TikTok: This relatively new video platform is now the most downloaded app. Short, entertaining videos can be uploaded here as well.
Stories: Most social media platforms, including Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, allow you to post Stories that disappear after a set amount of time. These are great because they can be created super quickly and inexpensively. However, for stories to be effective, you need to already have a lot of followers.
Live video: This format has grown in popularity in recent years as industry giants such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitch offer businesses ways to stream live content. Live video can be effective. According to Facebook, live streams receive six times as many interactions as regular videos. It’s a great way to give your fans and followers authentic live insights.
Webinars: Webinars are also a great way to use video to interact directly with your potential customers. Use them to answer specific questions customers may have about your product.

The right SEO measures

Uploading videos to YouTube that target common search terms can be a great way to get your business on the first page of Google. This is because Google ranks YouTube videos at the top of the page for many keywords.

You should implement the following points regarding YouTube SEO, so that your video really appears high up in the search:

A short and catchy video title: Put the most important keywords here and use a title that fits well with the video. But don’t make empty promises (no clickbait!).
Fill in the video description: On Youtube you have 5,000 characters for your description: use this option as well. Important information should be at the beginning of the description.
Use hashtags and categories: Choose the appropriate hashtags and categories for your video.
Don’t forget the thumbnail: The preview image for your video is also important. Choose an appealing photo that fits your video.

With these tips, you can ensure that your video content is actually seen by users and reaches even more people.

You should pay attention to these key figures

Once your video is online, you’ll want to know how it’s received by users. You should pay attention to the following key figures:

Dwell time and completion rate
The dwell time indicates how long a user stays on the website before leaving it again. The completion rate indicates how often a video is played to the end. Aspects that can contribute to a low completion rate include video duration (too long), content that is not engaging or relevant, video players that are not visible, loading time that is too long, a video player that is too large, and other network-related congestion issues.

Engagement and interaction
Are there positive comments, likes and is the video being shared? These are all signs that your video is well received by users.

Returning users
Returning users are a good sign that they already have an increased interest in the website’s content. They can then be guided to the desired target actions with individualized content, for example.

Conversion Rate
A conversion can refer to any desired action you want the user to take. This can include anything from clicking a button to making a purchase and becoming a customer. Websites and apps often have multiple conversion goals and each has its own conversion rate. For example, the number of new subscribers or page visitors to your website will tell you if the video was a success.

Click numbers
Is your video hardly viewed and has correspondingly low click numbers? Then it could be that people simply can’t find your video. Take another look at the hashtags and the title and adjust them if necessary.

The right marketing strategy

Marketing strategies for videos are nothing new. The first step before creating a video should therefore be good research. Make yourself a plan, then it will be much easier for you to keep an overview. You should follow these steps:

Set your goals

The first step in creating your video strategy is to outline the goals of the video. Do you want users to take a certain action or entice them to make a purchase? These are the very first questions you should clarify.

Define your target group

If you create a video without a specific audience in mind, it’s much more likely to be a flop. Those who are supposed to see it won’t, and those who do see it won’t take any action. So how do you know who your target audience is? Presumably, the people who want to buy your product are the people you want to reach with your video. Once you’ve established your buyer persona, you know exactly who your target audience is.

Find out what story you want to tell

Deciding what story you want your video to tell can be the most fun and difficult part. Also think about what emotions you want your story to convey to the viewer as you write your story. Do you want viewers to laugh? Should they feel inspired or happy after watching your video? Whatever emotion you want to evoke in your viewers, think about it when writing the script. Everything from the props and location to the colors and wardrobe will convey this, so choose every detail wisely! Also, get to the point quickly and let users know what the video is about after 30 seconds at the latest.

Stick to your timeline

When you’re planning the production, from the creative idea to the actual video distribution, you should have a timeline that you can stick to. Your timeline serves as your guide, letting you know how much you’ve done and what still needs to be done.

Keep a realistic budget

Yes, creative planning and strategy are important, but let’s face it: without the right budget, it will be difficult to get exactly what you want. Plan for the money and resources you have available. Plan what you want to create or shoot in-house and what you might want to outsource to a production company. Also, plan exactly what you can afford and what areas you might want to cut back on.

Conclusion

Video content is the future of communication. And for companies, there are definitely even more opportunities to attract new customers and build even stronger loyalty. To reach your target audience, video marketing is an indispensable strategy. As more and more businesses go digital, it’s getting harder to stand firm without a planned approach. If you and your business haven’t started video marketing by now, now is the time to do it. Videos will always be a very effective and successful way to market a product or service.